David Grosso, an independent challenger who quietly ran a year-long campaign against a troubled incumbent, tonight handily defeated incumbent Councilmember Michael Brown (I-At Large). With 96 percent of the city’s precincts reporting, Grosso claimed 21 percent of the vote to Brown’s 15 percent—a difference of almost 20,000 votes. At no point during the night did Grosso trail Brown, who was first elected to the council in 2008.

Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large) won re-election to the second of two open At-Large seats on the council, taking over 37 percent of votes cast. Four other candidates divided up what was left of the vote, taking no more than seven percent.

Grosso, a former council staffer and aide to D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, focused his—and the electorate’s—ire on a councilmember that while well-liked still suffered from a number of personal financial problems. Over the course of his campaign, Grosso constantly picked at Brown for paying his taxes late and mismanaging non-profit funds.

And while Brown raised more money than Grosso did, he was allegedly robbed of $113,000 of it over the course of a year. The theft gave Grosso a financial advantage, so much so that he was able to spend $82,000 in the final two weeks of the campaign on attacking Brown and shoring up his own bases of support.

In other results, D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson was elected to finish out the last two years of former Chairman Kwame Brown’s term, meaning that there will a special election for Mendelson’s At-Large seat early next year. Councilmembers Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), and Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) all cruised to re-election. Three ethics-related amendments to the Home Rule Charter were also approved by D.C. voters.

And in proof that losing can sometimes produce a victory, Bruce Majors, a libertarian challenger to D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, failed to unseat the incumbent but still managed enough votes to gain major party status for the D.C. Libertarian Party. Nate Bennett-Fleming will serve as the city’s new Shadow Representative, while Shadow Senator Michael Brown was re-elected.